N.R.M. is a rock band from Minsk, Belarus, founded in 1994. They are arguably the most popular rock band in the country. They perform in the Belarusian language, and are a rallying point for political opposition to the Belarusian government, despite a performance ban.
Biography
The band grew out of a previous group,
Mroja (which means "dream" or "vision"), and N.R.M. stands for "The Independent Republic of Dream" (?????????? ?????????? ???? in Belarusian). Their music tends toward melodic hard rock with witty and often indirectly political lyrics. The band's albums and publicity materials generally use the ?acinka alphabet, the Belarusian version of the Latin alphabet that was widely used alongside Cyrillic prior to the establishment of the Soviet Union.
Like several other bands that sing in Belarusian, they have expressed their opposition to President Alexander Lukashenka, although they have never mentioned him by name in their lyrics. N.R.M.'s largest crowd was in Kiev in 2004, when they played in support of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, with band members expressing their hope that something similar would happen in their own country.
N.R.M., along with many other Belarusian bands, are unofficially banned from FM station broadcast in Belarus. There is no written blacklist, but FM station managers have said they received unofficial "recommendations" from the authorities.
Within next three years the group continued active concert activity. Numerous performances abroad took place in Poland, Germany, Slovakia, Sweden. In the homeland, unfortunately, the group is included into the forbidden list, therefore concerts pass seldom and in underground conditions.
In 2007 a long-awaited sixth studio album "06" was released. It was recorded, according to Lavon Volski, under influence of political events of spring 2006 in Belarus. The album "06" is compiled with songs of different styles. Violoncello, mandoline, keyboard were used, which are new instrumeents for the group. Besides for the first time songs were sang not only by Lavon Volski, but also by other participants of the group and even children's chorus.
Albums
Other projects
- Pe?niarok (1997), tribute to Pesniary
- Narodny albom (People's Album) (1997)
- Serca E?ropy in rock (Heart of Europe in Rock) (2001)
- Personal Depeche (2002), Belarusian tribute to Depeche Mode
- Genera?y aj?ynnaha roku (Generals of Domestic Rock) (2004)
Members
- Aleh Dziemidovi?: percussion
- Jura? La?ko?: bass guitar
- Pit Pa??a?: guitar
- Lavon Volski: guitar, vocals
Bibliography
- Viktar Dziatlikovi?. Ich Mroja, ich NRM. Minsk: Su?asny litaratar, 2005.
External links
Belarusian rock music groups
N.R.M.N.R.M.Nezale?naja respublika MrojaN.R.M.NRMN.R.M.N.R.M.
